Compartment 14B

Well I'm on training until the end of tomorrow but I thought I'd drop in to Diaryland anyway. Thank GOD they have computers here that I can access my online email from or I'd be going nuts at being completely cut off. Despite how that sounds, I'm enjoying the course. It appeals to the spreadsheet-lovin' math geek in me.

I had the good fortune to be able to see some friends this weekend that I'd been out of touch with (as I mentioned in the last entry, one was a fellow I dated briefly a few years ago, the other was my first roommate from when I left home for the summer when I was 16). The old roommate I had last run into at Pride a couple of years ago. We'd only managed to chat for about 5 minutes then since her partner was impatiently waiting to continue on their way. She had been quite a large influence in my life though when I was young.

She was the first lesbian I knew and she and her girlfriend at the time were the first two women I ever saw kiss each other. I have to admit that I did feel a bit strange about it at the time - not the fact she was gay, just the actual kiss - but I think anything totally new is a bit strange at first. It was the start of a lifetime of being comfortable with "the community" and being able to get a lot of enjoyment out of gay positive events and situations. I'm as at home in a gay bar as I am in a straight bar and am flattered by interest directed at me, no matter where that interest comes from. The fact that women have tried to pick me up is kind of cool, actually, in my eyes. Of course, now that I go to bed too early to go out to bars much, and when I do go I'm with my husband, this "interest" is more in theory than in practice.

I am a staunch believer in people's rights to choose their own lifestyle and their own partner. My marriage is in no way diminished by the thought of two people of the same sex marrying each other. It seems like a laughable notion to me.

At any rate, I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant. I just wanted to say that it was fun catching up with her and looking at the pictures that my mom brought along of her and my family from the late 80s. We've all gotten older and our lives have diverged somewhat, but thank goodness we still can laugh at 80s hair together.